The Monkey Paw
by Ethereal Prey
Summary: Sinbad finds a monkey paw and makes a wish....


The Nomad made it's way to another port, avoiding the storm that set in. The crew unloaded their goods, and went into town. Maeve had wandered off into the market place seeing what new goods they were selling. Dermott flew down and perched on her arm. She came to a booth, a small dismal booth. The owner was an middle aged man. Dermott screeched and flew off. Maeve looked at the items in his booth. She saw a monkey's paw. The fingers were all clumped up into it's palm. It was rather grotesque. A severed limb from an animal. Sinbad followed her and sneaked up behind her.  
  
"Boo!" Sinbad said  
  
Maeve slightly jumped and she turned her head to see who it was.  
  
"I'm so scared!" Maeve teased  
  
"What are you looking at?" Sinbad asked  
  
"Nothing much"  
  
"Hey look, a fist for Dermott to perch on"  
  
"Don't touch that! It's disgusting"  
  
"I like it, and I'll buy it just to annoy you"  
  
"You would do that!"  
  
"I must warn you about that particular item" the man spoke  
  
The two turned their heads and to look at him.  
  
"This paw is no ordinary item. It has the ability to grant wishes."  
  
"Yeah right" Maeve laughed  
  
"You don't have to sell me, I'm already buying it" Sinbad said as he reached for his coins  
  
"Be forewarned there are grave consequences for every wish the paw grants. You may take it away, I do not want your money. That thing has caused me enough trouble as it is. I had a family once, and look at me now"  
  
"Alright" Sinbad said as he picked up the paw.  
  
The fingers opened up and revealed the palm. Maeve looked at Sinbad.  
  
"I didn't do it" Sinbad said  
  
The two left the market place and returned to the Nomad. Most of the crew were on board and were ready to set sail. They had sold their goods and purchased items for themselves.  
  
"What do you have there Sinbad?" Doubar asked  
  
"Something I picked up" Sinbad replied as he looked at the paw  
  
"What is it?" Firouz asked  
  
"A perch for Dermott" Sinbad  
  
"Not funny" Maeve replied  
  
"The guy that sold it to us said it could grant wishes" Sinbad said  
  
"Quite a salesman" Firouz said  
  
"So why don't you try it out?" Doubar nudged  
  
"Go ahead" Sinbad passed it to Doubar and walked off.  
  
Doubar, Firouz and Rongar all stood looking at the monkey paw. They were all thinking of what to wish for.  
  
"Any ideas?" Firouz said  
  
"Hmm, what to wish for" Doubar said as he thought hard  
  
Rongar motioned for the paw.  
  
"Rongar's got something" Doubar said as he handed it to him.  
  
Rongar held the paw in his hands and made his wish.  
  
*I wish to have my tongue back so I may speak again*  
  
The paw seemed to give off some sparks and a finger bent down back into the palm. And then it appeared in Rongar's other hand. It was his tongue, the one that had been cut off and discarded. It was in his hand, decayed, and deteriorating. Rongar threw it onto the floor along with the paw. Rongar looked at it in disgust and ran off.  
  
Firouz bent down and picked up the paw and looked at the tongue. It was very disgusting indeed.  
  
"What is it?" Doubar asked  
  
"I think it's his tongue" Firouz said  
  
"He must have wished for it back" Doubar said  
  
"Only the paw took it the wrong way. We have to be careful how we phrase our wishes then" Firouz  
  
"Agreed"  
  
"We're on a ship here not having tea with each other" Sinbad said from the tiller.  
  
"Aye Captain" Doubar said as he placed the paw down.  
  
Maeve was reading her magic books when Dermott swooped down from the heavens and perched next to her.  
  
"That paw was disgusting, can't believe Sinbad wanted to make it a perch for you! Men!" Maeve said  
  
*I see he's getting to you again*  
  
*Oh be quiet!*  
  
* You like him. Admit it! *  
  
* Quite! *  
  
Maeve walked over to where the monkey paw was. What would it hurt? To make a little wish, it mostly likely wouldn't come true anyways. What was the big deal? She picked it up and made her wish.  
  
"I wish that Dermott would return to his original form, the way the was born" Maeve said  
  
"No wait Maeve!" Firouz yelled but it was too late  
  
Another finger bent down into the palm and the same sparks flew out. Dermott started to glow. Maeve could see the little fingers appear, the arms and legs. But his size remained the same. He didn't sand up, instead he lay there on the floor, as a baby.  
  
"Dermott! Oh no!" Maeve said as she scooped him up into his arms.  
  
"You have to be careful how you phrase your wish" Firouz said  
  
Maeve didn't hear him, she tried to calm the crying baby. The crew looked at each other, wondering how Dermott the hawk turned out to be a baby?  
  
"This is not good" Doubar said  
  
"A baby on board? Where's Rongar? " Sinbad said  
  
"He went down below. His wish didn't turn out the way he wanted" Firouz  
  
"Meaning?" Sinbad asked  
  
"He wished for his tongue back, and it came back, the one that was cut off!" Firouz  
  
"Where is it?" Sinbad asked  
  
"Still on deck" Firouz pointed.  
  
"Get rid of it!" Sinbad said  
  
Doubar picked up the paw and looked at it.  
  
"Ok paw, you don't like me and I don't like you. I know that you're gonna try to mess with my wish somehow. Now I wish that the Nomad and all it's crew were rich with gold and jewels! Now I don't want anyone to die, or get hurt, I don't want to turn into gold or jewels myself or the rest of the crew you hear me?" Doubar said as he glared at it.  
  
Another finger bent down and the same sparks came out. And soon the deck and down below was bursting with gold and jewels.  
  
"Oh my!" Firouz said  
  
Doubar laughed with joy and began swimming around in the riches. But then the ship started to sink a bit into the water. The crew looked around at what was happening. The sides of the ship were turning into gold. Soon the mast was, and the tiller and it was reaching up towards the sails. The ship was too heavy and sinking.  
  
"Abandon ship!" Sinbad yelled out as he looked at the long boats which turned into gold  
  
"We have a problem don't we?" Maeve said as she cradled Dermott in her arms.  
  
"Quickly! Here! There's enough room for us!" Firouz said as she pulled his tub invention.  
  
The crew pulled the tub toward the side of the ship. The ship sank in a matter of seconds. They managed to escape barely in Firouz's tub invention.  
  
"You know this paw has brought us nothing but trouble!" Doubar said  
  
"Throw it into the ocean!" Sinbad said  
  
"No! We're stranded here, we need help" Maeve said  
  
"Any ideas?" Sinbad said  
  
"We could wish for something" Maeve said  
  
"Wishing is what got us here" Doubar said as he was about to throw it into the ocean, but Firouz stopped him.  
  
"Maeve?" Sinbad said as he looked at her.  
  
"Hold him" Maeve gave Dermott to Sinbad and she made a fireball and threw it in the air.  
  
"Hopefully someone will see it" Sinbad said  
  
Hours passed, and nothing, they were drifting aimlessly in the sea. There were only 2 fingers left, 2 wishes left.  
  
"Ok, magic hasn't worked for us, so how about science?" Sinbad said  
  
"Science? When magic fails then it's up to science?" Firouz said  
  
"Magic didn't fail us!" Maeve yelled back.  
  
Dermott started to cry from the yelled that had started. Maeve tried to soothe him best as she could. Rongar rested his head on the side of the tub. Doubar wiped the sweat from his forehead.  
  
"Look, we're all stuck in this together, let's just try to figure a way out of this" Sinbad said  
  
"And who's fault is it that the ship sank anyways? Maeve asked  
  
"Let's not point fingers, we need to get out of here" Sinbad said  
  
"It's all this paw's fault!" Doubar said  
  
"Magic! I'm telling you science is the way to think! Just once I would like it if you guys would think in terms of logic and stuff. For once I wish the world would think in terms of science and logic!" Firouz yelled out  
  
The crew looked at him for what he just done. He covered his mouth when he realized it himself. The paw sent out an aura, and then the finger crumpled into the palm. And then the tub started sinking, it had sprung a leak, several leaks actually.  
  
"Oh great!" Doubar said as he began scooping water out.  
  
"Maeve?" Sinbad said as he tried to keep the water out best he could.  
  
Maeve extended her arm toward the sky hoping to make another flare or fireball but nothing happened. Maeve looked at her hand and then tried again. Nothing.  
  
"My magic, it's gone!" Maeve said  
  
"How can that be?" Doubar asked  
  
"Your wish! You wish for science and logic! You destroyed all magic!" Maeve yelled at Firouz  
  
The tub was sinking even more and faster now. The water was up to their waists. Maeve didn't know how she was going to be able to swim with Dermott. Rongar was still so angry and sad at what his wish brought him. He wanted to be able to speak, but the wish, it just made him bitter, it showed him what he was missing, and what it had become. Doubar tried to get the water out, because in his heart he felt it was his fault the ship sunk. He had been careless and he knew it. Firouz was questioning himself for what he wished for. He wanted a world filled with science and logic, but it wasn't suppose to be like that. All their wishes were something that they didn't want. It was all the monkey paw's fault! The water started rising even more, they were out of time. Sinbad grabbed the monkey paw. It was his wish, it was the last wish, it was the one that had to save them. What did he wish for? The only thing he could.  
  
"I wish we never found this monkey paw!" Sinbad said as he and the rest of the crew sank into the water.  
  
The last finger bent down into the fist. Their bodies began sinking as they struggled to stay afloat, all except for Maeve. There were sparks and then it sank to the bottom of the sea.  
  
The Nomad never reached the port where they found the paw, instead it found itself in the middle of a storm. It was rough storm, the waters crashing onto the tiny ship. The waters shoved the boat side to side, almost knocking it and everyone else onboard over. The crew tried their best to hold on and they did all except for one.  
  
Sinbad was at the tiller, trying to make his way through the storm. It was dark and he could barely see anything.  
  
"Keep those lines secure!" Sinbad yelled  
  
Maeve managed to make her way and secure the lines, but then it happened. A giant wave swept over the ship, taking her with it. It took her quickly and she was gone.  
  
"No! Maeve!" Sinbad yelled as he jumped in after her  
  
"Sinbad!" Doubar yelled  
  
Sinbad jumped into the raging waters, but it was too late, she was gone and lost. The monkey's paw had completed its final wish. The storm pushed them off course and they never reached the port. The monkey paw appeared back in the booth awaiting its next victim.  
  
A petite brunette in a yellow dress strolled along and saw the monkeys paw. She picked it up.  
  
"Strange looking" she said  
  
She sighed. She was upset at the events that occurred that day or rather week.  
  
'Oh I just want them to accept me that's all, why can't they do that? Why do they hate me so much father and sister? I just wish that I could just get away from them, just be free. I need some time away from them'  
  
The monkeys paw glowed and the finger bent down again into the palm.  
  
"Oh father please be reasonable" Rumina said  
  
"No, it can't be" Turok said in disbelief  
  
"You have to accept it"  
  
"I can't!"  
  
"She's dead, she's gone."  
  
"You're the only one left now"  
  
"I know" Rumina hugged her father  
  
Bryn awoke on a desert island, with no memory of who she once was. She looked around wondering what had happened. She held her head and looked around. She saw a man washed ashore. She walked to see if he was alright. He slowly woke up and looked up.  
  
"Maeve?" Sinbad asked  
  
"Name's Bryn"  
  
The monkeys paw granted its last wish. It returned to its resting place in the booth waiting. Waiting for someone to wish on it. Waiting for you perhaps. Be careful what you wish for. 


End file.
